J.R. Tidwell/FCT Lexy Lindsey (33) of the Red Bay Lady Tigers brings the ball up the court against the Hatton Lady Hornets Monday night.

RED BAY — The Red Bay Lady Tigers once again left the gym with a win Monday night, this time by a final of 44-30 after defeating the Hatton Lady Hornets, a long-time rival, 44-30.

The Lady Tigers were without senior Alaina Hester due to injury and young starter Allie Kennedy due to illness.

Despite those obstacles, Red Bay managed to pick up the win over Hatton, though the game was much closer than several this year have been.

“I was so happy about beating Belmont the other night, but when Alaina got hurt it made me sick all over,” Red Bay head coach Donnie Roberts said.

“The girls responded well tonight, though. We got down 18-10 but the girls battled back and showed their composure. This is a good win for us.”

Red Bay is usually the first team on the scoreboard during its games, but it was the Hatton Lady Hornets that started off on a 6-0 run.

The Lady Tigers then scored five straight to make it 6-5, but Hatton maintained a slim 13-10 lead at the end of the first quarter.

It was a short time after the start of the second period that the Lady Hornets got the aforementioned 18-10 lead.

From that point on in the quarter, however, Hatton did not score a single point, and Red Bay took a 20-18 lead with 2:15 remaining before the break.

The Lady Tigers completed the first and only lead change of the game, and Hatton would trail for the rest of the contest.

The Lady Tigers continued to play better defense in the second half.

Red Bay outscored Hatton 22-12 in the thrid and fourth quarters, giving them the 14-point victory in the end.

“If we can come from behind and win against a team like Hatton while missing two of our key players, then we have a pretty good team,” Roberts said.

Kasey Sparks led Red Bay in scoring with 13 points. She also had four rebounds. Also scoring for the Lady Tigers were: senior Lexy Lindsey (11), Darby Madden (8), Elizabeth Wooten (6), Morgan Pierce (4) and Carlee Berry (2).

Hatton Hornets boys varsity 58, Red Bay 47

Despite a surprise 3-0 run and a win at the Franklin County Tournament, the Red Bay boys have been struggling to get wins late in the season, even though the team is playing better basketball.

The game was close throughout, and a hotly contested second quarter saw seven lead changes.

It was Hatton that had a 23-20 lead at intermission, and despite Red Bay’s best efforts, they were unable to overcome Hatton’s offense in the end.

Levi Humphres led Red Bay with 15 points on the night. Michael Ramirez had 11 points and six rebounds, and Bradley Brooks totaled 8.

Also scoring for the Tigers were: Tra Elliott (5), Austin Thorn (4), Barry Reach (2) and Zach Garrett (2).